The Greensburg tornado of May 4, 2007 was the first tornado ever rated EF5 under the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which had gone into effect just three months earlier. It destroyed 95% of the town of Greensburg, Kansas in the span of a few minutes — one of the highest fractions of any American town destroyed by a single tornado since the 1925 Tri-State event.
The tornado touched down at approximately 9:26 PM CDT in Kiowa County, Kansas. Over 65 minutes it carved a path 21.7 miles long and up to 1.7 miles wide — nearly twice as wide as the town of Greensburg itself. The tornado struck Greensburg at approximately 9:45 PM CDT, at night, with the peak of its intensity centered over the town.
Peak winds were estimated at 205 mph based on damage indicators. The National Weather Service in Dodge City had issued a tornado warning approximately 39 minutes before the tornado reached Greensburg — an extraordinary lead time widely credited with keeping the death toll to 11 rather than in the hundreds.
Greensburg, a farming community of about 1,574 people, was in the direct path of the tornado's core:
The 39-minute lead time was the result of experienced storm spotters, high-quality radar coverage, and a well-organized outbreak forecast. Nearly all Greensburg residents were sheltered in basements when the tornado struck. Without the warning, projections suggest fatalities could have exceeded 300 in a direct hit on the town center at night.
Rather than move or rebuild conventionally, Greensburg's residents voted to rebuild the town as a national model for sustainable and disaster-resilient design. The city adopted a resolution requiring all new public buildings to meet LEED Platinum certification. Wind turbines line the outskirts, and the rebuilt Kiowa County Hospital was one of the first LEED-Platinum hospitals in the country.
Every rebuilt home was required to have or offer a safe room. The town's population, however, dropped significantly after 2007 as some families chose not to return — a common pattern for small towns after catastrophic tornadoes.
As the first EF5, Greensburg became the reference case for what damage would qualify a tornado for the new scale's top rating. Damage surveyors from the National Weather Service coordinated with structural engineers to align the observed damage — including foundation sweeping and asphalt scouring — with the corresponding EF5 wind estimate. Every EF5 rated since (Parkersburg 2008, Hackleburg 2011, Joplin 2011, Moore 2013, etc.) has been compared against Greensburg's baseline.
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